The University of Arizona has added the newly created title and responsibilities of chief operating officer to its position of senior vice president and chief financial officer.
And it has formally appointed John Arnold to the expanded position in a non-interim role. Arnold has served as interim vice president of business affairs and CFO for the university since December.
Arnold will start in the role July 1, according to an email sent to employees by UA President Robert C. Robbins.
His salary, to be paid by the university, will be $550,000, said UA spokesperson Mitch Zak. As interim CFO, Arnold is paid $336,501 by the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees UA.
UA has not had a COO.
Its former vice president of business affairs and CFO, Lisa Rulney, stepped down in December after Robbins revealed a financial miscalculation had resulted in a “crisis” for the university, but — still making her $506,325 salary from UA — she was kept on in an advisory role that is due to end this month.
John Arnold
“John is the ideal person to take on this role with a broader focus on finance and operations,” Robbins wrote to employees. “He has accomplished transformational changes for the university over the past several months, thanks to his extensive background in disciplined financial management, efficient operations and higher education.”
Arnold will report directly to Robbins to “provide strategic leadership to and direction of the university’s finances, operations and business administration functions,” Zak said.
“He will have the primary oversight for the units within the division of business affairs and serve as an important strategic advisor to the university president,” Zak wrote in an email to the Arizona Daily Star. “Arnold will work collaboratively with other university leaders to advance campus-wide strategic goals.”
The appointment comes amid layoffs at the university and calls by faculty and others to reduce “administrative bloat.”
Though the idea of creating a COO position was only introduced to the Faculty Senate last month, university officials have had discussions about the position since late last year.
Arnold was appointed interim chief financial officer in December 2023, a month after Robbins revealed UA’s financial “crisis” to the Arizona Board of Regents.
As interim CFO, Arnold has worked to shrink the university’s deficit, which was originally $177 million, to its current $162 million. The projected deficit for next year is $53 million.
Before serving as the UA’s interim CFO, Arnold was executive director of ABOR, and he has been on leave of absence from that job.
“As we enhance his role on the leadership team, the university will continue to benefit from his past experience as the executive director for the Arizona Board of Regents and his prior leadership as state budget director,” Robbins wrote in his email to employees.
There “may be additional changes to the university’s organizational structure in the near future as we continue through a period of transition.”
He also said the university will not hire a new senior vice president and chief communications and marketing officer after Brad Bohlander left the position in April.
Instead, Robbins wrote, Steve Voeller will oversee the university’s communications team and will serve as vice president of communications and government and community relations. He previously led the government and community relations team, which he will continue to do in his new role.
Robbins also promoted Christie Harper to serve as vice president of marketing.
Meanwhile, ABOR’s search for Robbins’ successor as UA president continues, after he announced in April that he will step down by the end of his contract in June 2026.
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